Have you ever tried massaging your kale? I know, it does sound a little strange. However there are good reasons to do this! What are they you ask? Well, it softens the kale, which makes it physically easier to eat.  How does this happen exactly? Well, through physically massaging the kale you are partially breaking down the cell walls of the kale which releases the juice in it and makes it soften (which means it isn’t so tough to eat and means a more enjoyable salad for you!).

How to massage kale:

Slice your kale thinly. (I use the whole of kale including the stem). Add the kale to a bowl and mix in a bit of olive oil. Now pick up the kale and rub the kale together into your hands. Keep doing this until the liquid from the kale is released and the kale begins to soften. The kale should reduce in volume by about half.

Spicy Massaged Kale Salad with Apple, Sultanas and Cinnamon

This salad is a little bit spicy and slightly sweet but very delicious and much easier to eat! This is a great salad for those who find greens too tough or bitter.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 bunch of kale, sliced thinly
• olive oil
• 1/2 apple, sliced
• a handful of sultanas (oil free)
• 1/2 t. cinnamon powder
• 1/4 t. cayenne pepper powder
• olive oil, extra (optional)

Method:

Slice the kale and add the olive oil. Massage the kale as above. Leave to rest for half an hour (this softens the kale further). Then mix in the apple, sultanas, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and the extra olive oil (if the salad is too dry) if needed.

Loving massaged kale salads,

Michelle.

Let me know if you have tried this or if you will try this- I’d love to know how you like it!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Michelle Robson

For all those kale lovers, here is another kale salad for you! This time I have added daisy mandarins to this salad, as these mandarins like other fruit, taste really good in salads!

About the produce I used:

• The olives were bought from the Hurstbridge farmers market from Panton Hill Estate.
• The kale and daisy mandarins are from a local organic produce shop as well as the goats feta from Meredith Dairy.
• The walnuts and fresh blood orange juice are from Hurstbridge Farmers Market. I cracked the walnuts using a walnut-cracker and the juice I got freshly juiced at the market.

Kale Salad with Feta, Walnuts, Mandarin and Olives & Blood Orange Dressing

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kale, sliced thinly
• 6-7 walnuts, freshly cracked
• a few kalamata olives, pitted
• 1 or 2 daisy mandarins,  each pieces sliced into 3 (pips removed) and zest
• goats feta, crumbled
• olive oil
• blood orange juice
• black pepper

Directions:

Rip, tear or slice the kale however you like and add to a bowl. Break up the walnuts and add to the kale. Add in the mandarin pieces, olives and crumble in the goats feta. Make a salad dressing of 3 parts olive oil and 1 part blood orange juice and stir in your black pepper to taste.  Pour over the salad when ready to eat.

I hope you enjoy this tasty salad!

Michelle.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Michelle Robson

If you have trouble getting leafy greens into your diet, well here is a little trick to make your salad way more enjoyable: add some fruit! Adding fruit makes your salad a bit sweeter and can take the bitterness away from the dark leafy greens, it also tastes great and will make your salad really bright as well! What kind of fruit? Great fruit too add to your salad:- strawberries,  daisy mandarins, oranges, apples, avocado, olives (yes they are fruit) and more!

What kind of fruit do you like to add to your salads?

Strawberry, Kale and Goat’s Feta Salad

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1/2 bunch kale, sliced
• goats feta, crumbled
• 6-7 strawberries, sliced
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

How to:

Add the kale, cheese and strawberries to the salad. Dress with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy,

Michelle.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Michelle Robson

Welcome To Wholesome Whole Foods

Happy Friday Everyone and Welcome to this weeks edition of Wholesome Whole Foods! Another week gone, another week to be healthy for our mind and bodies!

Blog Carnival Buttons:

What is Wholesome Whole Foods all about?

Wholesome Whole Foods is a blog carnival where you can share your wholesome, healthy, real food posts.They don’t have to just be recipes, they just have to be to do with real food and healthy living.

What if I can enter my link today?

Don’t worry if you can’t enter your link today the linky will be left open till Sunday each week.

Things to remember…

Make sure you link back to this weeks edition of the carnival (not my home page) so everyone can find everyone all the great posts in the carnival. (Unfortunately unlinked posts can’t be counted in the carnival).

Also please comment below to let everyone know all about your post!

My Submission For This Week

This week I have a recipe for chai syrup made with rooibos!

I hope you all enjoy this weeks carnival!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Michelle Robson

I love chai lattes! However buying from a cafe too often can add up. Also, I’m not always sure of the quality of the ingredients in the chai that I buy. So of course, I had to make my own recipe up for chai! So I tested some ingredients out and I’ve now come up with a really nice Chai Syrup recipe. This one uses rooibos tea instead of black tea (rooibos is caffeine free and high in antioxidants).

Rooibos Chai Syrup Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 T. rooibos
• 1 T. vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, split open (optional)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 t. cinnamon powder
• 1 t. ginger powder
• 3 cardamon pods- split and crushed
• 2 cups cold water
• 2 T raw honey

Directions:

To make the chai syrup, the method is quite simple: combine all ingredients in a saucepan with a lid. Simmer on medium-low for half an hour to one hour or until the mixture reduces to a syrup. Then strain the mixture through a fine sieve (discarding solids) and then bottle the syrup in a sterlized jar (I used a maple syrup jar) to be stored.

How to use the chai syrup: simply mix a teaspoon of the chai syrup into hot milk and serve. Or mix in a teaspoon of the syrup into hot water for a great chai tea.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. This would be great on a cold day or even as a calming drink to have before bed.

Thinking of chai tea,

Michelle.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Michelle Robson

This was a really simple meal, yet one that was really delicious and quite tasty. Both the process of cooking the chicken and veggies were as simple-as-can-be. You know,  it seems most things that could be classified as simple are generally the best of things in life. Don’t you agree?

Here are some quotes on simplicity:

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”.

“In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.”

“Simplicity is the nature of great souls.”

(Sure, these quotes aren’t really related to food specifically, but you get the point).

So are you ready for simplicity?

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Paprika Chicken

Ingredients:

• chicken breast, cut into strips
• paprika
• salt & pepper
• butter or coconut oil

How to:

1. Cover the chicken in paprika (shake the rest off) and then cook in a fry pan in oil till the chicken is cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper. Set cooked chicken aside with a tea towel over it to keep warm, until time to serve.

Butter & Garlic Veggies

Ingredients:

• vegetables of your choice: I used carrot, zucchini and brussel sprouts.
• butter
• garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper

How to:

1. Chop your vegetables up into cubes. Saute with butter, garlic, salt and pepper till soft.

Enjoy!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Michelle Robson

Welcome To Wholesome Whole Foods

Happy Friday Everyone and Welcome to this weeks edition of Wholesome Whole Foods! Another week gone, another week to be healthy for our mind and bodies!

Blog Carnival Buttons:

What is Wholesome Whole Foods all about?

Wholesome Whole Foods is a blog carnival where you can share your wholesome, healthy, real food posts.They don’t have to just be recipes, they just have to be to do with real food and healthy living.

What if I can enter my link today?

Don’t worry if you can’t enter your link today the linky will be left open till Sunday each week.

Things to remember…

Make sure you link back to this weeks edition of the carnival (not my home page) so everyone can find everyone all the great posts in the carnival. (Unfortunately unlinked posts can’t be counted in the carnival).

Also please comment below to let everyone know all about your post!

My Submission For This Week

This week I have you a Q&A with Nutritionist Karen Fischer all about healthy food for our skin!

I hope you all enjoy this weeks carnival!

Most of us want beautiful, glowing healthy skin. But how do we achieve that? Our skin is part of our first line of defense and to keep up that part of our immune system it needs to be a strong barrier in order to protect us from pathogens, so we must keep it healthy. Here, Australian Nutritionist Karen Fischer has answered a few questions on how we can keep our skin healthy and looking its best. Karen aims to help her clients and others work through their skin issues in her award-winning book The Healthy Skin Diet. I highly recommend this book to anyone with skin troubles. I hope you enjoy this Q & A and I hope it gives you a few tricks and some inspiration to help you achieve healthier skin.

HFL: How can diet affect your skin?

K.F.: If you’ve ever lamented about inheriting ‘crap’ genes cause your skin isn’t as good as your friend’s (who can eat chocolate ice-cream for breakfast and still look like a supermodel), then you know that genetics play a role the appearance of your skin. However, your diet influences your genetics – you can literally compensate for ‘poor skin’ genes by making good meal choices on a daily basis.  The typical western diet contributes to skin problems and chronic tiredness, if you don’t have supermodel genetics (which most of us don’t). For example, if you eat processed breakfast cereal with milk in the morning; have a coffee and white bread sandwich for lunch; and pizza or risotto for dinner, you have just consumed the types of fats that make skin cells rigid and prone to premature ageing and cellulite, plus large amounts of acids that your kidneys, skin and lungs have to work overtime to bring back to alkaline; and you have made it harder for your bowels to remove toxic wastes. However, a diet rich in ‘beauty’ foods supplies the right ratios of good fats; keeps your blood sugar levels steady; and offers alkaline-forming substances to keep the blood pH and bowel health optimal and your skin quality can improve greatly within a matter of weeks.

HFL: Which foods are really good for your skin (a.k.a beauty foods)?

Dark leafy greens such as baby spinach, rocket and parsley; rolled oats, soy lecithin granules, omega-3 rich fish, linseeds (flax seed), avocado, almonds, lemons and limes to name a few. Variety is important unless you have eczema, which has a very specific regime that is a bit restricted. For other skin conditions, begin by choosing mostly unprocessed and un-packaged foods that are fresh and in season. However, I believe that healthy food needs to be served in a delicious way so you’ll want to be healthy for the rest of your life, without feeling deprived in any way, which is why I design my own recipes. Desserts can even be good for you if you choose the right ones.

HFL: Which foods are not so good for the skin and why?

High GI, packaged foods such as pastries, biscuits and white bread and processed oils such as margarine, soft drink, processed deli meats, ice cream and other dairy products as they can promote premature ageing of the skin, cellulite and other skin ailments. These foods disrupt the pH balance of the blood, because spikes in blood sugar, contribute to poor bowel health and don’t supply the enough of the right nutrients for healthy skin. However, some unhealthy foods can be consumed in moderation, depending on your specific skin ailment.

HFL: What does the skin needs to replenish itself?

It’s vital to prioritize sleep (eight hours each night), learn to truly relax and stop worrying so much, and of course, eat well. Virtually every vitamin and mineral is necessary for drop-dead gorgeous skin, as well as oils rich in omega-3 and foods that promote healthy bowel flora.  You can greatly improve your skin’s appearance – its moisture content, its smoothness and its ability to recover from conditions like acne – by choosing low GI (glycemic index) foods such as rolled oats for breakfast; grainy bread sandwiches or a tasty salad for lunch (it’s what’s in the dressing that counts) and protein such as fish or free-range chicken for dinner with alkalizing vegetables and low GI rice.

About Our Guest

Karen Fischer is a former model, nutritionist and mother of two fussy kids who have been the inspiration for her research into skin health (her daughter had severe eczema as a baby). Karen’s first book, The Healthy Skin Diet, is a bestseller and was winner of the 2008 Australian Food Media Award for ‘Best Health, Nutrition or Specific Diet Book’; her second book Don’t Tell Them It’s Healthy was the inspiration for a Hansel and Gretel style musical in Queensland (Mighty Foods – The Musical) and her third book Healthy Family, Happy Family has just been released. Karen believes that laughter and a sense of humour about life are just as important as eating healthy food and she finds time to be lazy because relaxation is also great for the complexion!

Thanks Karen!

photo credit: suzaned shared at: pennywise platter

Welcome To Wholesome Whole Foods

Happy Friday Everyone and Welcome to this weeks edition of Wholesome Whole Foods! Another week gone, another week to be healthy for our mind and bodies!

Blog Carnival Buttons:

What is Wholesome Whole Foods all about?

Wholesome Whole Foods is a blog carnival where you can share your wholesome, healthy, real food posts.They don’t have to just be recipes, they just have to be to do with real food and healthy living.

What if I can enter my link today?

Don’t worry if you can’t enter your link today the linky will be left open till Sunday each week.

Things to remember…

Make sure you link back to this weeks edition of the carnival (not my home page) so everyone can find everyone all the great posts in the carnival. (Unfortunately unlinked posts can’t be counted in the carnival).

Also please comment below to let everyone know all about your post!

Last Week’s Wholesome Highlights

Have a look at Tiffany’s recipe for Sprouted Triple Chocolate Cake (and it’s gluten free)!

The Local Cook shared with us a recipe for ‘Green Surprise Dip‘-  It’s nutritious and delicious!

Christy linked up a really tasty recipe for BBQ sauce!

My Submission For This Week

This week I have you a recipe for also I posted for Quinoa Fruit Salad with Coconut-Passionfruit Cream and the guest post by Naturopathic Doctor, Sarah Cimperman all about Mushrooms (with a recipe)!

I hope you all enjoy this weeks carnival!

Hi Everyone.

This week’s guest post is a by Naturopathic Doctor Sarah Cimperman talking all about mushrooms plus a recipe for delicious Mushroom Soup! For more about Dr. Cimperman have a look at the end of the post. Thanks Dr. Cimperman for sharing such a great recipe with us all. If you would like to Guest Post, please have a read of the guidelines.

- – -

Mushroom Medicine
By Dr. Sarah Cimperman, ND

Mushrooms have been revered as both food and medicine for thousands of years. As powerful modulators of the immune system, they play an important role in protecting the body against pathogenic microorganisms and abnormal cell growth. Some medicinal mushrooms are almost inedible, like woody reishi mushrooms, but two varieties – shiitake and maitake – make good ingredients for meals with medicinal benefits.

Shiitake Mushrooms

Scientifically known as Lentinula edodes, shiitake mushrooms are native to Asian countries and wild ones are typically found growing on fallen trees. Now cultivated throughout the world, shiitakes are widely available in both dried and fresh forms.

These mushrooms have been used traditionally in Japan and China to cure the common cold, increase energy and eliminate intestinal worms. Preliminary trials suggest that shiitakes may be useful for conditions including hepatitis B, HIV infection, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and genital warts, and pancreatic and stomach cancers, especially when combined with chemotherapy.

Maitake Mushrooms

Grifolia frondosa, commonly called maitake mushroom, is also known as the “dancing mushroom” because its overlapping fruiting bodies resemble dancing butterflies. Maitakes grow wild in the mountains of Japan, Europe and North America, including New York, but are extremely sensitive to environmental changes and difficult to cultivate.

Polysaccharides found in maitakes are some of the most powerful medicines studied in mushrooms so far. MD-Fraction, an extract containing the polysaccharide beta-D-glucan, appears to activate special immune cells including natural killer cells, macrophages and T-cells. Maitake mushrooms have been used traditionally in Asia to promote wellness and vitality. Studies investigating their potential for the treatment of HIV infection as well as the prevention and treatment of cancer are currently underway.

Medicinal Mushroom Soup

Therapeutic dosages of medicinal mushrooms are usually achieved through consuming concentrated extracts. Eating mushrooms in food form may not cure cancer, but it can still have beneficial effects on health, including immune support during cold and flu season.

If you can’t find fresh shiitake or maitake mushrooms, rehydrate dried ones (and reserve the strained soaking liquid for a portion of the broth). Or, if necessary, substitute other varieties like oyster or cremini mushrooms. Avoid using white button mushrooms because their flavor is too mild for this soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 large portabella mushroom cap
• Extra virgin olive oil, first cold pressing
• Sea salt
• Ground peppercorn
• 2 leeks, halved, thoroughly cleaned and thinly sliced
• 1.5 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (reserve stems for soup stock)
• 1.5 cups thinly sliced maitake mushrooms
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, grated, crushed, or minced
• 2 cups organic beef stock, or vegetable or mushroom broth
• Water

Directions:

1. Preheat the broiler. Wipe the portobello clean with a damp cloth and place it gill-side up in a shallow baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and ground peppercorn. Broil until the mushroom becomes tender and the gills start to crisp, about 7 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once cool, dice the portobello and reserve any juices.
2. Meanwhile, warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the leeks and a pinch each of sea salt and ground peppercorn. Sauté until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the sliced shiitake and maitake mushrooms, bay leaf and thyme. Stir to combine and cook until the mushrooms become soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until it becomes aromatic, about a minute. Do not burn the garlic.
3. Add the stock or broth, the diced portobello mushroom and any juices, and enough water to cover all of the vegetables. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and transfer approximately two-thirds of the soup to a blender or food processor, working in batches if necessary. Cool slightly, then purée until smooth. To prevent heat explosions, fill blenders only half to two-thirds full and ventilate while blending.
5. Return the soup to the pot, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Reheat soup gently over medium-low heat. Serve warm.

About Our Guest

Dr. Sarah Cimperman is a naturopathic doctor in private practice in New York City. She specializes in nutrition, loves creative cooking, and writes a healthy whole foods blog, The Naturopathic Gourmet. To learn more, visit her website, Dr SarahCimperman.com, and her other blog, A Different Kind of Doctor.